Too young to breed?

[Rabbit]

Just thought id get everybody else's point of view.
Do you think that we are possibly provoking our fish into breeding too early?
A "female" dog for instance shouldn't breed until they are around 1.5-2 years even though they are capable of becoming pregnant at anywhere between 4-6 months.
Just curious.:hi:

 

[Miquatics]

Hi Rabbit. That's an interesting point. I look forward to the responses. I have several colonies of 333 and 134 I've had since fry (some a bit older) for about 1.5 years now. As far as sizes go, a majority would be apparently ready to breed. I've thought about all the methods used by experienced breeders to trigger spawning, but haven't really made any effort yet out of fear they may still be too young? I wonder if they'll just start when they're ready? Cheers.

 

[Jo Crane]

I think fish breed when thy are mature and ready there are fish farms using hormones to induce breeding but in the average aquarium this is not the case you see lots of posts of people trying this trigger or that trigger with no results then one day they just breed when they are ready

 

[canberra_plec]

dunno if it has any implications here but i find that with my commons at least i try to seperate them when they first breed and let them grow another few months. if i dont they just seem to "almost stop growing, that extra few months allows them to grow heaps.

 

[thegeeman]

IMO most plecs can breed in the juvenile/sub adult stage BUT i dont think its a good thing. I had a pair of bn,s that started spawning even though the male had only just started to show bristles. They were maybe 60mm TL and from the point they started to breed they stopped growing. I believe this is not beneficial to the health of the fish so I split them up.

IMO its best to leave them to grow into adults before trying to spawn them. That said, Accidents do happen

Cheers

thegeeman

 

[Doodles]

I'm inclined to agree with geeman, whilst plecs may be able to breed really young, its surely not going to be good for them long term.

 

[Rabbit]

IMO most plecs can breed in the juvenile/sub adult stage BUT i dont think its a good thing. I had a pair of bn,s that started spawning even though the male had only just started to show bristles. They were maybe 60mm TL and from the point they started to breed they stopped growing. I believe this is not beneficial to the health of the fish so I split them up.

IMO its best to leave them to grow into adults before trying to spawn them. That said, Accidents do happen

Cheers

thegeeman

Thats my thoughts exactley.:yes: